Author's Note: It was a crazy day, so I went with an easy alternate prompt today! Hope you still enjoy!
Day 17
Alternate Prompt 12
Water
"Clint's in the water! He was knocked off the bridge, he's in the water and he's not resurfacing!"
"Stark, Thor, one of you needs to get to Barton!" Steve commanded as he started running toward the bridge.
"Point Break, you take care of the rest of the baddies, I've got Barton!" Tony announced.
Steve made it to the bridge, sprinting to where Natasha was leaning over the railing - zig zagging around the corpses of the hostiles that she and Clint had been battling - and looking down at the river below. Far below. Too far below. Was that fall even survivable for Clint?
There was a flash of red as Iron Man flew in and immediately dove into the water. The moments ticked by agnozingingly slowly.
"Banner," Steve said into the comm. "We're going to need medical support in the field. We're at the bridge over the river in the northeast quadrant of the compound. Get here as fast as you can."
Because there was no way that Clint wasn't going to need medical attention.
"On my way," Bruce confirmed.
"What's taking so long?" Natasha said anxiously as her eyes desperately searched the water below.
"Tony will find him," Steve said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.
"Has Barton been found?"
They both turned as Thor landed on the bridge.
"Not yet," Natasha said quietly.
"Maybe you should -" Steve started, but his suggestion that Thor should join the search was rendered moot as just then Iron-Man came exploding out of the water a good forty feet downriver.
Steve felt a wave of relief wash over him, before the reality of the situation kicked back in. They weren't out of the woods yet. Tony flew over to the bridge and landed just behind them, Clint's soaking form cradled in his arms.
A form that didn't move as Tony carefully laid him out on the ground.
"Get the Kevlar off him," Natasha commanded as she hurried over and dropped to her knees next to the archer, Steve quickly following suit. Steve tore at the velcro straps of Clint's Kevlar vest as Natasha placed two fingers on Clint's neck. "No pulse."
"How long was he down?" Bruce had finally made it to the bridge and wasted no time getting down to business, obviously having listened to their exchanges over the open comm. line. He dropped to his knees on the other side of Clint, shrugging a medical bag off his shoulder.
"Three minutes, maybe four," Natasha said anxiously.
"Steve, you're on chest compressions, thirty at a time," Bruce said as he dug into the medical bag. Steve was already leaping into action. "Natasha, you're on breaths, two breaths for every thirty compressions."
"...three one-thousand, four one-thousand, five one thousand…" Steve breathed as he firmly pressed the heel of his palm down on Clint's sternum.
He leaned back as he made it to thirty compressions at the same time that Natasha leaned forward, pinched his nose and tilted his chin up so that she could blow two breaths into his mouth, his chest rising and falling mechanically with each borrowed breath. Then Steve leaned over again, restarting chest compressions.
"One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand…"
They repeated the round three times, checking for a pulse between each round and finding none.
We're too late, he's not gonna make it…
"Okay, stop," Bruce said.
Steve almost protested, not wanting to give up, before he saw that Bruce had set up a small, portable AED next to Clint's prone form. In one quick motion, Bruce used a pair of medical scissors to slice open the middle of Clint's shirt so that his chest was bare. He took a small towel and wiped away the water still clinging to Clint's skin and then quickly pressed the AED pads to Clint's upper right shoulder and lower left side.
"Keep clear," Bruce said as he glanced at Steve and Natasha to make sure they weren't touching Clint.
Bruce hit the button on the AED and Clint's body jolted upward… and then fell listlessly back down to the ground. Bruce reached up to check Clint's pulse before shaking his head.
No, no, no, this couldn't be happening, no…
Steve immediately went back to work on chest compressions. Tony stood at Clint's feet, his faceplate retracted as he stared dismally down at the archer. Thor went down on one knee at Clint's head, bracing his arms across his knee and bowing his head as if he were in prayer.
Natasha and Steve went through another three rounds of CPR as the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Nothing else outside of this circle of heroes - this circle of friends who had found family in each out - mattered.
"Okay, clear," Bruce said.
They paused the CPR and stared with bated breath as Bruce hit the shock button on the AED. And once again, Clint's body jolted upward… and then fell deadly still.
"Clint, please don't do this to us," Natasha quietly pleaded as Bruce checked Clint's pulse again.
"No pulse," Bruce reported flatly.
Statistically, there was very little hope. Clint had to have been under for almost six minutes now, which was the longest a person could go without oxygen. If he wasn't beyond saving, he should be back by now. He should have come back with the first defibrillator shock and they should be transporting him to the hospital by now. Instead, they were staring Clint lying unmoving on the ground, his skin pale and his lips beginning to turn blue.
But Steve didn't give up that easily. He placed the heel of his hand covered by his other hand on Clint's ice cold sternum. Then he pressed down. And he pressed again. And again. And again.
He would do this forever if there was even the slightest chance of bringing Clint back to them.
"Okay, clear," Bruce said this time after only two round of CPR.
They leaned back as Bruce hit the button on the AED with more force than necessary. Clint's body once again jolted upward… and then suddenly Clint sucked in a horribly painful breath, wheezing it back out before attempting to suck in another as his entire body seemed to spasm. It was a terrifying display…
But he was alive. And just that fact threatened to crush Steve under the weight of the relief that washed over him.
"Clint!" Natasha gasped almost hysterically as she lunged forward and put her hands on either side of Clint's face, as if needing the tactile reassurance that he was still here with them.
"Get him on his side," Bruce said urgently as Clint continued to gag and choke. He and Natasha just managed to get Clint over on his side before bile projected from his mouth and onto the ground. "That's it, get it all up, buddy," Bruce encouraged and he reached over and firmly patted Clint's back.
Finally, the gagging subsided and Clint's breathing settled into an unsteady rhythm.
"Holy shit," Tony breathed, the relief clear in his tone.
"We need to get him back to the jet," Bruce said.
"Will he be alright?" Thor asked anxiously.
"I think so," Bruce said with a light smile. "If Clint can come back from that, I think it's safe to say he'll fight through anything else he needs to.
Steve leaned over and carefully lifted Clint up into his arms, listening carefully to his labored breaths and the group trooped back to the Quinjet. Clint fought for every breath, dragging it in painfully before letting it go again. It was painful to listen to, but at the same time it spoke to Clint's practically inhuman resiliency.
"Keep fighting, Clint," Steve said quietly. "Always keep fighting."